IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge

Race Day! 

The hype for these races is so much bigger than I expected.

My only comparison is to Larry Miller Motor Park and Daytona.

Daytona of course was a much more flashy track than Larry Miller, so that was exciting.

But aside from the support crews, there weren't that many spectators.

So to come to an IMSA event with five different race groups and all the fans 

(many who are pitching tents in the infield for the weekend) plus the haulers for 100's of race cars participating and all their equipment, mechanics, and crew, 

then the commentators, merch tents and food services on top of that, it was a party!

Qualifying was a 20 minute race at 11:00 am to put down your fastest lap and get your pole position.

(Remember how much I loved to play that game at the arcade? Foreshadowing...)

Nick was getting into his zone and his coach was sharing details with me about routines and how important they are for getting into the right headspace so I was trying to respect the process and not interrupt. I gave Nick a little pat on the back as we were walking over to the pits, 

then realized his headphones were in, so carefully backed away so I didn't break his focus.

Nick and Pete. Pete's the experienced pro driver and races with Dan and Corey too.
He also owns the shop that takes care of their cars and is an engineer & mechanic.

Nick and his coach, Chris. Chris was a pro racer and now works in the shop.

One of many rows of garages.

Walking to the pits for qualies.

Pete sharing wisdom.

The pits:

Nick and Pete are #77. The other matching car in the team is #43.

Nick's coach, Chris, watching the monitors and with a mike that can talk with Nick in the car.

Nick placed 19th in qualifying and was super happy with the result.

A positive sigh of relief.

For the next couple of hours he practiced driver changes, and had crew meetings

so I found a grassy spot to read my book.

At 3:45 the drivers in the Michelin Pilot Challenge had a "fan walk"

to show off their cars and meet and greet. 

A couple of Nick's fans!

The Indy track used to be made of bricks, hence today's event was called "The Battle on the Bricks."

Courtney and I knelt and kissed the bricks, but Dan said the tradition was only for the winners.

Courtney and I are winners, so it was okay.

Then it was race time.

Nick seemed a little nervous but also excited.

Dan wanted to watch from the pits (he and I had crew passes),

but I chose to stay out of the way and watch with Courtney, Michael, Bob & Rhonda.

We started where we could see Turn 1 and hear "the thunder" (when the racers got the green flag).

Then after a couple of laps, we moved to the other end of the bleachers where we could see the turns and the pits.

Nick did so good! 

Within a few laps he passed the "gentleman" driver in his team car.

"Gentleman" drivers are the term for the guys who pay for the team. Usually older guys, like Dan.

But just because they're old, doesn't mean their not fast. Especially with lots of experience.

Nick had wanted to at least keep up with them, so it was really cool when he passed.

Nick got to a pretty solid 14th place which was SO cool! 

By the end of the first hour, all the cars were coming into pit, which takes time,

so there was a few minutes when Nick was jumping up the board and even 2nd! haha

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Nick is car 77 and in 2nd! (While a lot of the faster cars were pitting.)

Nick got gas then had a second hour. At this time a lot of the cars switched out their gentleman drivers for their pros. The other team car's pro passed Nick, but Nick hung with him really well.

Nick got some good press on Peacock and they mentioned he was an "18-year-old BYU student who had raced some WRL's in the past. With this race he was dippin' his toe in the deep end, and, so far so good!"

They were following him in a battle for position with another car.

At the turn near where we were sitting (so we could see the whole thing), Nick took the inside pass

and "nudged" the other car to get past.

The announcers said it may have been a potential error on his part and he did get a warning from the track officials, but his coaches said it was awesome and he did great!

At the second hour and second pit, Pete swapped Nick.

Dan said when Nick got out of the car he whooped and gave Dan a big hug

and was totally on Cloud 9. 

After an hour, Pete got bumped and spun out which ruined his tires, slowed him down and set him back at 20th place. When he came in for new tires, he handed the wheel back to Nick which was different than they originally planned. They'd lose places with the extra pit for tires so he said he may as well let Nick get the night practice.

It was a fantastic race and us in the stands were shocked how fast the time went.

We brought food to snack on and ear plugs which were crucial.

The weather was perfect.

Nick, his team and the other team were super happy with how the race turned out.

So, so fun! Go Nick!

Car 43 got a bump during the race too. This one left a mark.